Cancer Patients Increased Use of Ivermectin After Mel Gibson Podcast Appearance

Prescriptions for the antiparasitic drugs ivermectin and fenbendazole increased after actor Mel Gibson appeared on "The Joe Rogan Experience" podcast in January 2025. Mel Gibson told podcaster Joe Rogan that three of his friends who previously had Stage 4 cancer no longer had cancer at all after taking ivermectin and fenbendazole.

The episode has been viewed more than 13 million times on YouTube. There is no high-quality evidence that ivermectin has any benefit for cancer patients. Fenbendazole is not approved for human use. In the months after the episode aired, prescriptions for these drugs jumped significantly, according to research published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open.

The study examined prescription rates from January through July 2025. The rate of prescriptions among cancer patients more than doubled compared with the same period the year before. The highest prescription rates were among men, white patients and those in the U.S. South.

Oncologists said they worried their patients may delay or forego effective therapies while turning to these unproven treatments. The findings reflect the complex landscape in which medical decisions are now made. Patients can readily find health information, both accurate and inaccurate, on social media, in podcasts and from AI chatbots.

A recent report from the Pew Research Center found that half of U.S. adults under 50 get health and wellness information from influencers or podcasters, many of whom are not health professionals. When those sources share health misinformation, it can quickly spread, said Michelle Rockwell, an assistant professor of family and community medicine at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and an author of the paper.

Dr. Rockwell previously studied the increase in ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine use during the Covid-19 pandemic.